Cavs and Cavs and Caps Oh My

Even though it’s a snowy February, and the sports world is focused on the Super Bowl, my favorite spring teams are heating up. The Capitals and Lebron’s Cavaliers are on long winning streaks, while UVa had a long winning streak recently snapped, but bounced back at defending champ UNC. The Caps and Cavs now have the best records in their league, and UVa is only a half a game out of first place in the ACC. Here is a look at their recent runs by the numbers:

Caps:

• 12: Franchise record winning streak
• 1: Loss since Ovechkin was named captain 29 days ago
• 15: Number of wins out of 16 since January 5^th
• 58: Goals scored by the Caps during the streak, compared to
• 27: Goals allowed
• 0: Losses at home in 2010
• 4: Games I attended
• 1: Broken jaw off of an Ovechkin shot
• 3: Unleash the Furies
• 48: Zamboni rides

Cleveland Cavaliers:

• 10: Game winning streak
• 4: Wins over Wade, Bosh, and Kobe
• 14: Margin of lead in Central Division
• 1: Amount of times Lebron rapped to himself while inbounding the ball
• 27: Annoying Lebron puppet commercials
• 115: Flops by Anderson Varejao
• 6: 3-pointers attempted by 7’3” Zydrunas Ilgauskas
• 2: Injuries to key guards Mo Williams and Delonte West

Virginia Cavaliers:

• 8: Game winning streak
• 6: Years since having a streak that long
• 3: Wins against top 25 teams
• 18.2: Scoring average for Landesberg, 3^rd in the ACC
• 11: ACC preseason rank
• 0: Shirts sweat through by Tony Bennett
• 1: "In the face!!!" throw down dunk
  

While these numbers are all well and good, and make for some fun entertainment in between NFL playoff games, there are four other important numbers:

• 36: Days until the ACC tournament
• 68: Days until the NHL playoffs
• 71: Days until the NBA playoffs
• 0: Combined titles for the Caps, Cavs, and Cavs

Hopefully these teams will have hot streaks when it matters in the spring.

(Photo is an actual screenshot during the end of Tuesday’s game w/ Craig Laughlin writing in the 11, courtesy of the DC Sports Bog)

Super Bowl Hype Fun

Since there will be two weeks of hype leading up to the Super Bowl, there is plenty of time for some Sporcles.

Can you name all 43 Super Bowl winners in 10 minutes?

The NFL Teams with the longest Super Bowl Droughts in 2 minutes?

The Super Bowl Winning QB's in 6 minutes?

The coaches that have won a Super Bowl in 5 minutes?

The Super Bowl MVPs in 7 minutes?

And of course, my personal favorite:

The cities with the longest title drought with at least 3 major sports teams (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) in 4 minutes?

(P.S. For the 5 Super Bowl ones above, I got, in order 43/43, 14/15, 43/43, 23/26, 38/43)

Please no Guarantee in this Week’s Colts Jets Game

This week’s AFC Championship game between the Jets and Colts is only the second time these two teams have met in the playoffs since Super Bowl III. That game turned out to be one of the biggest upsets in NFL history as the underdog Jets won the Super Bowl and the first title for the AFL. Unfortunately for the Colts, the similarities between that matchup 41 years ago, and the one this week, are eerily ripe for an upset.

“Broadway Joe” Namath was a flamboyant young qb for the Jets, with some strange sideline behavior and a 1-0 playoff record going into the game. Mark “Hot Dog Eating, GQ” Sanchez is 2-0 in the playoffs so far in his rookie season.

Meanwhile, the Colts of the 60’s were led by Johnny Unitas, a clean cut, four time league MVP. No difference with current Colt passer Peyton Manning.

The Jets were only in their eighth season of existence and making their first playoff appearance that year, while the Colts had two titles in the previous ten seasons. Likewise the Jets of the modern area have only two playoff wins in the past ten seasons, compared to the Colts nine appearances and one title in that span. Therefore there was an 18-point spread in favor of the Colts in Super Bowl III and a 7.5 spread for the Colts this Sunday.

Lastly and most importantly, Namath made the 1969 game famous by boldly guaranteeing a Jets victory. Meanwhile current Jets coach Rex Ryan has been brashly predicting victories for his team during this playoff run, including stating in a press conference earlier this week “I’d be shocked if we don’t [win]. I absolutely would be.”

While it’s not actually a guarantee, I do not want anymore microphones around Ryan or Sanchez leading up to the game this week.

I Guess Charles Woodson was Heisman Worthy

Is it just me or is it a little strange or coincidence that days after Peyton Manning won his fourth MVP, Charles Woodson won the defensive player of the year. Twelve years ago, Woodson upset Manning to win the Heisman becoming the first and only defensive player to win the award. After eleven good, but not great seasons in Oakland and Green Bay, it was looking like the Heisman Committee made a Shakespeare in Love/Saving Private Ryan mistake. But after leading the league in interceptions, returning 3 for TDS, with 63 tackles and 4 forced fumbles this year, it appears that the 921 voters weren’t that far off after all. Good thing I had them both on my fantasy team this year.

Elway and Favre are not Walking Through that Door: Be Wary of the New Holmgren and Shanahan Eras

Now that Mike Shanahan has officially been named head coach and executive vice president of the Redskins, the city is abuzz with high expectations. A couple weeks ago, there was similar optimism in Cleveland when the Browns hired Mike Holmgren as president of football operations. Both men are Super Bowl winning coaches from the mid 90’s, however there is reason for concern.

Shanahan took over the Denver Broncos in ’95 and led them to back to back titles in ’97 and ’98 with Hall of Famers John Elway, Gary Zimmerman, and 8 other Pro Bowlers including MVP Terrell Davis. But after Elway retired, in the subsequent 10 seasons, Shanahan only produced a 55% winning percentage, one divisional title, four playoff appearances, and one close playoff win. At least he somehow maintained a tan in Colorado during those years.

Likewise in Green Bay, Holmgren joined the Packers and was very successful as a coach, with a Super Bowl title, six straight playoff appearances, and a 66% winning percentage. However, Ron Wolf, the general manager at the time, traded for Favre before Holmgren arrived, and signed Reggie White, the cornerstones of their Super Bowl run. Then Holmgren took over the head coaching and GM job in Seattle in ’99 with mixed results. While he drafted Shaun Alexander, Steve Hutchinson, and brought in Matt Hasslebeck the backbones of their later Super Bowl run, he also drafted Koren Robinson and Jerramy Stevens, who had run-ins with the law. After four seasons with both positions, a 47% winning percentage and only one playoff appearance, the Seahawks removed him from the GM position. Now as just the coach, Holmgren went on a five year playoff run including their Super Bowl appearance.

Whether Shanahan’s recent unsuccessful coaching record and lack of GM experience, and Holmgren’s mediocre seasons as a GM will help the Skins and Browns rise to prominence, is yet to be seen. One thing’s for sure, they will miss these two.